Optimal precoder for amplify-and-forward half-duplex relay system

In this paper, an optimal unitary precoder is designed for an amplify-and-forward (AF) half-duplex relay system to obtain the maximum coding gain while the original ergodic channel capacity for the relay system is kept unchanged. A closed-form design is derived for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals by employing the properties of Farey sequence in number theory. Simulation results indicate that the proposed design greatly improves the bit error rate (BER) performance for the relay system.